Ex-agent says Israel must strike Iran soon

Tel Aviv/Washingto: A former head of Mossad has warned that Israel has 12 months in which to destroy Iran's nuclear programme or risk coming under nuclear attack itself. He also hinted that Israel might have to act sooner if Barack Obama wins the US presidential election.

Shabtai Shavit, an influential advisor to the Israeli parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee, told The Sunday Telegraph that time was running out to prevent Iran's leaders getting the bomb.

Shavit, who retired from the Israeli intelligence agency in 1996, warned that he had no doubt Iran intended to use a nuclear weapon once it had the capability, and that Israel must conduct itself accordingly. "The time that is left to be ready is getting shorter all the time."

Shavit, 69, who was deputy director of Mossad when Israel bombed the Osirak nuclear facility in Iraq in 1981, added: "As an intelligence officer working with the worst-case scenario, I can tell you we should be prepared. We should do whatever necessary on the defensive side, on the offensive side, on the public opinion side for the West, in case sanctions don't work. What's left is a military action."

As speculation grew that Israel was contemplating its own air strikes, Iran's military Saturday said it might hit the Jewish state with missiles and stop Gulf oil exports if it came under attack.

Israel "is completely within the range of the Islamic Republic's missiles," said Mohammad Ali Jafari, head of the Revolutionary Guard. "Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime, despite all its abilities, cannot confront it."

More than 40 per cent of all globally traded oil passes through the 35-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz, putting tankers entering or leaving the Gulf at risk from Iranian mines, rockets and artillery, and Jafari's comments were the clearest signal yet that Iran intends to use this leverage in the nuclear dispute.

Israeli officials have been pressing President George W. Bush to launch air strikes before he leaves office on January 20 next year. Shavit hinted that the chances of winning American approval for an air attack will be drastically reduced if the Democratic nominee wins the election.

Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime, despite all its abilities, cannot confront it."